NComputing virtual desktop powers DepEd’s Computerization Program

The Department of Education’s Computerization Program is a nationwide project that aims to put e-classrooms to various public schools in the country. One of the requirements is equipping these schools with desktop PCs for the teachers and students to use.

NComputing Inc. is the one of the fastest growing end-to-end virtualization company in the world and their desktop virtualization technology provides the cost-effective means our Department of Education need to achieve their e-classroom project.

In this sample NComputing setup, 1 PC (far right) is powering 3 clients which only consists of a monitor, keyboard and mouse plus the NComputing device connected via LAN.

So what exactly does a virtual desktop do? We all know that for basic school requirements, a modern PC is often not maximized. Internet browsing, document editing, slideshow viewing don’t require a lot of resources so a PC is really underused. What NComputing’s virtual technology does is tap these unused resources and use them to power other machines.

With NComputing’s solution, only one PC is needed to run up to 11 desktops. Each desktop on top of the main PC is just comprised of a monitor, keyboard and mouse, which are connected to a small and highly reliable NComputing thin-client device, which is then connected to the shared PC. Instead of buying 11 desktop PCs, all you need is one plus 10 of these NComputing devices which only costs P4,000 apiece (less if in bulk).

This is what the NComputing device looks like. The virtualization technology is embedded on the chip inside which only requires 1 watt to run.

The advantages of this solution aside from its cost-savings are:

Less power consumption. Each NComputing virtualization device needs only 1 watt to run while a desktop PC needs a minimum of 150W.

Easier to replace or upgrade. Whenever a PC refresh or upgrade is needed, you only need to touch the main PC making the process inexpensive. The NComputing device relies on the power of the main PC so there’s no need to upgrade it.

Less prone to virus. Since each device does not have any USB or disc drives, there’s little to no way that students can introduce a virus as long as the main PC is always kept secured and protected.

Gives teachers more control. The main PC (typically the teacher’s PC) will have the power to see what the students are doing on their computers. The teacher can also lock other PC’s or broadcast a view to the students from the main PC.

3,000 plus schools in the country will be having this solution to power their e-classroom after a bidding process was initiated for the Department of Education’s Computerization Program. Organizations typically save at least 50% on hardware costs, 75% on support costs, and 90% of electricity costs by installing NComputing.

“We are proud that NComputing’s technology is helping in the modernization of the IT educational infrastructure of thousands of schools in Philippines. We at NComputing are highly confident that the technology will enable more Filipino children to take advantage of computer education and have a much better environment than before. We are also confident that our track record with other educational institutions around Asia Pacific would prove that we are the solution of choice for education,” said Manish Sharma, NComputing’s Vice President for Asia Pacific.

NComputing’s low capital expenditure and total maintenance cost opens new avenues to implement better computer education as it paves the way for educational institutions to take double the advantage of this type of computing infrastructure.

The solution was provided by NComputing’s authorized national distributor, Mustard Seed and its channel partners.

20 Comments

Hi Calvin, how about the OS requirement for the thin client? And also about the license for each clients? I believe Windows only has limited number of remote desktop connections. Do you know where I can inquire more regarding this device? Thank you very much.

hi there why is it when i opened the whole units (it composed of 6 computer monitor) one of the monitor appeared “no signal” while the rest of the computer units were ok and good. Why is it that so? thank you

my main problem is how to turn on audio device. it seems that audio is only available only if your using the white board with the projector. it is also unavailable even i use the administrator computer. is there any way or can it be possible to use these network of computers having each one of them audio-ready? working with this setup seems to bore me. pls. i need reply.